Ward 4 opponents disagree on flood-relief progress in West Quincy

Two weeks before the Nov. 5 city election, the candidates running for Ward 4 city councilor disagree on the effectiveness of the flood-relief plan thus far.

Patrick Ronan

It has been over three years, but memories of March 2010 still resonate in West Quincy. Heavy rain caused severe flooding and forced firefighters to rescue more than 40 people from their homes, many by boat.

The federal government declared Quincy a disaster area, and the ordeal prompted city leaders to approve a $25 million capital plan to make flood improvements, particularly in Ward 4, which includes West Quincy.

Two weeks before the Nov. 5 city election, the candidates running for Ward 4 city councilor disagree on the effectiveness of the flood-relief plan thus far. Brian Palmucci, the incumbent, says West Quincy residents are already seeing less flooding during rainstorms, while Michael Healy, the challenger, says the taxpayers have been misled by Mayor Thomas Koch’s plans to install a new pumping station in the neighborhood hardest hit by the March 2010 flood.

Healy, making his first run for public office, is echoing concerns raised last year by three city councilors who questioned the mayor’s decision to buy the parcel at 20 Furnace Ave. as the future site of a pumping station. The city bought the land from Quincy real estate agent Daniel Flynn for $485,000, even though city assessors had valued the land at $135,200 for tax purposes.

The skeptical councilors, Douglas Gutro, Joseph Finn and Brian McNamee, said Koch made the purchase without city council oversight, and they called for an outside investigation from the state inspector general to see if the purchase was legal. The other six councilors, including Palmucci, voted against the outside probe.

“If there were no issues with that land purchase, why would you not send it for an independent review by the inspector general?” Healy said.

Palmucci, seeking his third two-year term, defended his vote, saying the land purchase was discussed at several public meetings before it was made.

“I didn’t believe there was any fraud, waste or abuse in the purchase of 20 Furnace Ave.,” Palmucci said.

After the land purchase, the city was notified by engineering consultant Woodard & Curran that the new pumping station would cost at least $8 million, and it wasn’t covered by the $25 million capital plan. The city’s first attempt to seek funding for the station from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, was rejected earlier this year.

“We, as a city, went forward with the purchase of 20 Furnace Ave. without plans for a pumping station,” Healy said. “You wouldn’t do a kitchen renovation without knowing where a cabinet was going to go. That’s called a plan.”

Although Palmucci said the new pumping station is a major piece of the flood-improvement plan in West Quincy, he touted other aspects of the $25 million capital plan, including the ongoing dredging of Furnace Brook, upgrades to the existing pumping station on Alrick Road and drainage improvements in the Furnace Avenue neighborhood.

“We have used that site (at 20 Furnace Ave.) for drainage improvements that have helped residents in that area,” he said. “Those are drainage improvements that we couldn’t have made without that land.”

Joseph Shea, a senior vice president at Woodard & Curran and son of Quincy’s city clerk, said FEMA representatives were scheduled to visit 20 Furnace Ave. early last week to discuss the pumping station with city officials. He said the visit was canceled due to the federal government shutdown.